TOPIC: Garden
- How do I go about planting yams? We have already started the roots forming in a jar of water but need to know how to plant them. Thanks for your response. Duane
- How do I know when to cover tomatoes so the do not freeze?
- How do I protect my zukes and cukes from the annual onslaught of squash bugs?
- How do I prune my raspberries?
- How do I store my summer bulbs?
- How many ears of corn grow on one stalk?
- how many eggplants do you get from one plant.
- How much sunlight do my raspberries need?
- I am growing corn in a large garden box. My corn stalks are now five feet tall with several leaves, but none have any ears visible yet. When are ears supposed to be evident on a corn stalk?
- I am having frustrations on how to water my tomatoes, some people say every 8-10 days, some every 2. Mine that get hit by sprinklers every 2-3 days at least have small green fruit my other bushes have only little buds and no fruit can you please clarify. Also I have one cherry tomato in a pot should that be watered differently than garden tomatoes?
- I am looking for information on when pumkins are ripe.
- I am looking for information on when pumkins are ripe.
- I am wrapping up my garden for the year. I have been looking at adding horse manure to my garden soil to boost the organic matter in it. This year I added NutriMulch (turkey manure blend) and that worked out well, but was expensive. I'm concerned about the soil quality. I notice that it's pretty hard when in big dry clods. Would I be hurting my garden to add green horse manure now, and tilling it in? I've read a little about deficiencies in the soil because of too much horse manure, so if it's safe or even a good idea to add to a garden, how much is the right amount?
- I found a spider in my garden among some weeds that matches the description of a black widow except it has three distinct white dots on its back.
- I have 4 lovely crenshaw melons on my home garden vines -- 1 large, 2 medium, and 1 small. None of them have gone yellow/white yet! We survived the snow flakes last weekend (I covered everything), but I see we are about to get another "hit" this weekend! Is there ANYthing I can do to speed up their ripening?? I have cut back my watering of the vines, but sprinklers still go on automatically in the morning. Would any of the "usual" things people do to ripen melons indoors (paper bags, put them with a banana, etc.) do any good while they are still on the vine?? From everything I have read, if they are picked while they are still green, they will never ripen -- is this true? If I keep them well covered during our few nights of 32-33 due this weekend, will they survive on the vine to ripen?
- I have a climbing rose that I love and would like to take a cutting and start a new plant. What is the best way to do that?
- I have a dogwood shrub that did wonderfully well in the spring and is now slowly dying. I do deep watering once every two weeks and that seems to help but not enough. Any recommendations? It gets full sun most of the day.
- I have a lot of earwigs and spiders in my garden and flower beds. How can I kill them off without making my bed unsafe to plant vegetables in the future?
- I have a poinsettia that is about three years old. The first year it bloomed beautifully, then last year and now this year, just before the holidays, the leaves wither and fall off. I have not changed anything carewise. It is in an ideal place, gets plenty of dark hours, no drafts, filtered sun, and just enough water. Why is it doing this?
- I have a reliance peach tree, 3rd year in the ground, and this year I noticed almost all of the branch tips were black, down about 3 inches. Some of the leaves started to brown spot and turn yellow, eventually falling. Also some of the branched produce fruit, but no foliage, the fruit is very weak and just falls in a light breeze. What can I do to correct this ?
- I have cucumber plants that I started growing from seeds in march of this year. I replanted about 2 weeks ago into a 20 gallon tub. I put the plant in a back room where the sun comes in alot, it started growing really well then i put the plant out side during the day and bring it in at night. Since then the leaves have started turning brown on the edges and it doesn't look very good. I have a tomato plant also and it is doing just fine, its very green and getting bigger by the minute. Do you have any suggestions for me?
- I have had some raspberry plants in an area near my house (6' x 12') for over ten years and only in the spring do I try to gently loosen the soil with a gardening fork. I have not added anything other than some fruit oriented fertilizer or Miracle Grow in that time. Half of the section usually produces berries the size of the tip of your little finger and some grow as big as the tip of your thumb. The others are small and crumbly,which is okey of jam but not for visuals or overall production. I read that crumbliness is due to ovary infertility. How do I overcome that? Should I also be doing some thinning? Early this last spring I cut the canes to about three feet high but many of them are now close to eight feet long. What is the best way to deal with excess growth?
- I have heard that black walnut sawdust should not be used in composting. People have told me it is poisonous to other plants. Is that true. I have several bushels of sawdust and would hate to send it to the land fill, but don't want to poison my garden either.
- I have heard that some of my tomatoes have tomato blight. What is it and how do identify it? The leaves on the plants curl and then the plant dies. However, the fruit still sets and matures as the plant is dying.
- I have just discovered an ant colony in my outdoor herb pot. I noticed soil build up around a couple of the herbs, thyme and rosemary and also soil build up around the drain holes. This pot is 20 inches across and 15 inches deep. How can I get rid of the ants without damaging the herbs or poisoning my family? Thank you.